History & Scope (Chapter 1)
What is a hypothesis?
a testable prediction
axons; dendrites
Marijuana is considered a member of which class of drugs?
Hallucinogen
According to Piaget's theory of development, when do children develop an understanding of conservation?
concrete operational stage
How can we define consciousness?
our awareness of self (internal states etc) and our environment
Let's say you find that students with longer hair, have lower stress levels. What type of correlation is this?
Negative
What is the difference between functional magentic resonance imaging (fMRI) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)?
fMRI measures neural activity; MRI measures structure
Requiring a higher dose of a substance to achieve the same "high" or effect is an indication of:
tolerance
Monica sees her brother take an extra cookie when her dad was out of the room. She is surprised when her dad comes back and doesn't lecture her brother about taking the extra cookie. Her parents always require that they ask before having more sweet snacks. This suggests that Monica has yet to develop:
Theory of mind
A researcher wants to test the effects of listening to music on test performance. What are the independent and dependent variables
IV: listening/not to music
DV: test performance
You are reviewing old psychology textbooks and come across a passage that reads "We hypothesize that sadness supports human survival by acting to motivate individuals to make important life changes." What school of thought would propose a hypothesis like this and who is largely responsible for this line of thinking?
Functionalism; William James
Nick can produce fluent speech but it is complete incoherent and meaningless. Which part of his brain is likely damaged?
Wernicke's area
We spend increasing amounts of time in ______ stage of sleep as the night progresses.
REM
How did the Harlow monkey study challenge the original theories of attachment?
Originally researchers hypothesized that attachment was largely driven by sources of nutrition but the Harlow study revealed the importance of contact comfort for attachment
Which division of the autonomic nervous system is associated with our "fight or flight" response
sympathetic
What is the difference between random assignment and random sampling.
random assignment is used in experiments to minimize any preexisting differences between the experimental and control groups; random sampling is used in survey designs and involves insuring every person in a population has an equal chance of being selected for the survery
Casey experienced trauma to the head and can no longer walk without losing her balance regularly. Which brain region do you suspect was damaged?
cerebellum
What does the stroop effect demonstrate?
A circumstance where we have to use "high road" thinking to override our subconscious automatic "low road" mode of thinking (e.g., reading)
Describe Piaget's sensorimotor stage of development
exploring the world through grasping/sucking
Describe at least two of the main theories for why we dream:
1)Freud’s wish fulfillment theory: Manifest content (remembered storyline and censored latent content) “Psychic safety valve”
2) Information-processing theory:Functions to sift, sort, fix day’s experience in memory
3) Neurocognitive function theory: Consolidates memories and process emotional information
4)Activation-synthesis theory: Brain’s attempt to synthesize random neural activity
5) Cognitive development theory: Reflects level of cognitive development
Let's say you want to know the effect of exercise on happiness. What is an example of an operational definition for happiness?
e.g., amount of time spent smiling
specifies a concept by defining the exact procedures used to measure or manipulate it, turning abstract ideas (like "anxiety" or "aggression") into concrete, observable, and quantifiable variables for research, ensuring clarity and replicability
If we are a pharmaceutical company that needs to develop a drug to increase dopamine levels in the brain. What type of drug do we need to develop?
agonist
What effect does long-term methamphetamine abuse have on dopamine?
Reduced baseline levels in the brain
Erik notices the exam answer key is visible on the teacher's desk during the exam. When considering if he should cheat, he decides that he shouldn't because others might think of him as a dishonest person if they see him do it. This reasoning is an example of which stage of moral reasoning?
Conventional
What are three key features of action potentials discussed in class?
-They can be excitatory or inhibitory
-They are "all or none"
-They have a refractory period- brief period of time in which they can't fire until they return to resting state